The most recent phenomenon that parades itself through Europe is homosexuality. Recently, the United Kingdom legalized same-sex marriages after enough political pressure and Gay-Pride marches through the city. By all religious books, same-sex marriages are considered a sin, but with the acceptance of this, shows a decline in the importance of religion within leaders and its people.

So will religion die as nations become more liberal and socialistic in comparison to the dictatorship-like nations of the East? I do not think it is dead or in its last moments but instead has evolved, or rather people have tailored it to suit them and this is obvious. All scriptures in religion are metaphorical and literal. Their ethics are taught through stories or pictures, with parables and morals to go away with, but the ambiguity, created by the mischievous to suit their life, or their vision of how they want religion to be, is what we are fooled by so often.

Let’s take an example such as Al-Qaeda. This school of thought is possibly the most foolish that I have ever seen attract the media’s red light. They have managed to convince people that suicide with mass destruction is what their role is in this world. On the other hand, Bishops have been convinced that a relationship with a man is allowed because it’s considered celibacy as it is not a relation with a woman. Again, the logic doesn’t make sense does it?

Scenarios on smaller issues is where religion can play a vital role. “Come out for a drink with us after work” he says. “Oh, I’m Muslim. My religion does not allow me to drink”. Why is religion used as a barrier and not his own beliefs? “Are you free on Friday” he says.   “I’m Jewish, I don’t go out on Fridays” is what is so commonly heard, but why not “it’s the sabbath, I would prefer to stay in”. This idea of playing the “religious card” enrages me.

Specifically within religions themselves, people will attempt to take the moral high ground by using religion as their rescue. People today follow a set of rules and look for ways to become more efficient with them as if it has an on and off switch. It does not seem to be embedded within its followers but rather people refer to it in times of need, especially in arguments. It implies that people cannot be good people without religion. In a discussion of morals people refer to religion last as if no-one had thought of it and when mentioned, people realize “oh yeh, I have a religion to follow”.

People follow religion and don’t live it. To me, this is not what religion is supposed to be. Not a set of rules that its people follow blindly or because their parents followed a similar set of laws, the death of pure religion is imminent whilst people tailor religion so it works for them.

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In the absence of light darkness prevails. They say that darkness can also be referred to as lightlessness and therefore darkness by nature only exists via the deficiency of light.

A recent decision to ban minarets in Switzerland has as predicted caused a timely uproar in the Islamic world. The latest decision will again be met by angry middle-aged men in Trafalgar Square waving flags of Islamic colours and claiming how the infidels will be punished. I wonder whether in this reaction is a message of how we got into this situation in the first place?

Leaving aside the corrupt politics, dodgy dealings and media bias which are fed to us, the substance behind an action is always the root causation. As the rules of firefighting dictate in order to extinguish a blaze it is essential to establish the root of the fire.

If we were to dissect this issue to the core, the heartbreaking truth is that this is a problem which Muslims inadvertently had a role in creating. I can’t really judge or lay blame on most of those who voted for the ban, there would be the odd racist but as history has shown us a majority is usually pushed into an extreme decision by fear. The question remains, how was this fear created? How did we lose the elements of peace, unity and humanity? 1400 yrs ago a man fell on a battlefield after quenching the thirst of the very same horses, which would later trample on his body. Prior to this upon arriving at the place of his passing he first paid the landowners their taxes, only to be butchered on the very same sand. In the history of our Saints we have been shown how Islam exemplifies humanitarian action but how did we lose this humanitarian message? I return to my opening message… in the absence of light darkness prevails.

The truth is that Muslims have been hiding, and whilst hiding have been misrepresented by those Muslims who have been active and out in full force. Islam has been spread by those who actually decide to venture outside their communities and spread their word and instead we have been left behind confused and baffled, scratching our heads and jumping on the “Muslim band wagon” of blaming everyone else for our problems. Our ancestors were the masters of reflection and introspection however we never pause for a moment to look inside at what the real problem is. Over time our silence has been deafening, our leaders were martyred so that we could speak of their message but we keep our lips sealed and our doors closed. Whilst we struggle with the idea of explaining why we don’t drink alcohol without turning apologetic or how in the world we will cope when our children don’t speak a certain language our counterparts are in the street preaching their hearts out, to the extent that our message of Islam has been swept away and we are left out in the cold being misrepresented left, right, centre. So the answer isn’t to do what THEY do, but it is to do what WE are not doing.

(In my love of contemporary quotes) Bruce Lee once said: “Don’t think, feel! It is like the finger pointing away to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory”

By concentrating on extremely trivial and minor issues we have lost sight of our message. We cower at the word “activism” because we think it involves standing on the streets waving a sign stating “The End is Nigh” and shouting at people about their multitude of sins. We are unaware of the powerful effect we could have on the world if we were to simply uphold our principals with dignity. We need to grasp the concept of the middle path and interact with people on a daily basis without the need to hide our faith’s message. For too long we have steered clear of the industries such as media, politics and journalism and yet when decisions are made we wonder why.

Without a voice one cannot speak and therefore without people who actually care enough to defend a message our world will continuously be challenged and changed for the worse. So what is our excuse? I don’t think the answer is going out and verbally preaching till people get sick and tired, the answer lies in the principals. Without defending others how can we expect people to defend us? and why do we even want people to defend us in the first place? We timidly walk along at Palestine protests but forget that there are people in Zimbabwe who are trading their eggs for some medication. We hide away in our mosques praying to God for a solution but then we go out in the world and leave God’s answer on the prayer mat. We speak about the dejection that various migrating ethnicities feel towards Switzerland after a decision like this whilst at the same time debating about whether to cater for converts to Islam from other backgrounds at our centers. Our actions should cause the world to crave our company but we are systematically being booted out of every society on earth because of our ignorance. So what is our excuse?

Well, a common excuse I’ve heard all too many times is that all our principals are good for an ideal world, that Islamic principals are fine….but…. in an ideal world. So how does that world become ideal? I remember the story of Prophet Yusuf (as) who lived in one of the most backward societies known to man and after being locked up in prison (for a crime he did not commit) he rose to become a prominent advisor on treasury and matters of the state. He lived in a far from ideal society but he overcame and influenced the world by his principals. He didn’t stay silent, he didn’t hide away he went about his life and represented the true message of peace.

This is not an apology to the western way of life, I am under no illusion; the majority of governments and systems will always be opposed to Islamic principals. In Islamic history enemies have always been prevalent, the Prophet (saw) dealt with enemies and struggled his entire life, something that his Progeny would also encounter for the duration of their lives. The issue of the minarets ban is a small one it may be overruled it may not but it will soon blow over. If we constantly react by shaking our heads at the TV every time a similar decision is made and then go back to our old ways no progress will ensue.

In conclusion…do I blame Swiss citizens or even the government for fearing the implications of allowing minarets in Switzerland: if you had tax-evading, suicide-bombing, hate-mongering individuals in your society you wouldn’t vote for their benefit either. The problem is the minarets are now associated with a tarnished version of Islam and not the true Islam.

Am I upset about the lack of minarets in Switzerland: if I’m being honest it doesn’t keep me awake at night. What does keep me up is the continuation of Muslims following their fragmented life, oblivious to why these problems occur in the first place and then after knowing why they take place doing nothing to stop them.

Imam Ali (p.b.u.h) once said “O you who carry knowledge around with you; are you only carrying it around with you? For surely knowledge belongs to who ever knows and then acts accordingly, so that his action corresponds to his knowledge. There will be a people who will carry knowledge around with them, but it will not pass beyond their shoulders. Their inner most thoughts will contradict what they display in public, and their actions will contradict what they know.”

We need unity, we need knowledge, we need intellectual activism and we need a leader…wa ajil farajahom (hasten the reappearance)

Syed Murtaza Abidi (Muslim and Swiss citizen)

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